Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy signed a decree on Tuesday to boost his armed forces by 100,000 troops over three years and raise soldiers’ pay but said this did not mean war with Russia was imminent, according to Reuters.
Zelenskiy urged lawmakers to stay calm and avoid panic as he prepared to host the leaders of the Netherlands, Britain and Poland – all NATO members – as part of efforts to defuse tension with Russia and shore up international support for Kyiv.
Russia has massed more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine‘s borders while denying plans to invade – an action that the United States and its allies have warned would trigger tough sanctions.
The West last week formally rejected Russian demands to bar Ukraine from ever joining NATO and pull out NATO forces from eastern Europe, while expressing willingness to talk about arms control and confidence-building measures.
Russia has not yet signalled its next move, and the Kremlin reiterated on Tuesday that President Vladimir Putin would respond „when he considers it necessary”.
Putin said last week the United States and NATO had not addressed Moscow’s main security demands but Russia was ready to keep talking. On Tuesday he was due to meet Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and hold a news conference at 1300 GMT.
Ukraine’s Zelenskiy said he signed the decree on expanding the armed forces „not because we will soon have a war… but so that soon and in the future there will be peace in Ukraine”.
Despite the Russian troop build-up, Zelenskiy has repeatedly pushed back against warnings by the United States and other NATO allies that Russia could attack Ukraine at any moment.
There are currently nearly 250,000 people in Ukraine’s armed forces, compared to Russia’s overall strength of around 900,000.
NATO member states have rallied round Ukraine in recent weeks, with the United States, Britain and Poland among countries offering military aid and calling for tough sanctions on Moscow if Russia launches an attack.